Provision of ADW & ASWC Vertical Wind Tunnel Hours

Award outcome

Description

When conducting training prior to undertaking live free fall parachute descents for the Lightweight Parachute System (LPS) and the BT80 free fall parachute, it is mandated in Assessment Strategies (AS) that a student should experience 20 minutes of free fall through the use of a free fall simulator. Students are required to meet relevant Enabling Objectives (EOs) and Training Objectives (TOs) contained in the Training Performance Statements within a formal training environment. Being exposed to free fall in a controlled environment, prior to live practical assessments, allows a student to experience the realism of the feeling of airflow around the body, and how movements of body parts can affect this. A VWT has an immeasurable capacity of transferable skills to live parachute descents and allows enhanced training to take place in a fraction of the time when compared; 2 minutes in a VWT equates to 2 free fall parachute descents which would take approximately 2 hours to complete. Parachutists with experience of free fall prior to their first live assessment will have a sound foundation and basic skill set that will allow them to focus on additional EOs and TOs which must be achieved in what is now a safety critical environment. Due to the EOs and TOs contained in the above mentioned AS there is a requirement for PJIs to undertake training to conduct this coaching as detailed in the VWTI (Vertical Wind Tunnel Instructor) Assessment Strategy. This training can take an undefined amount of hours to get to the standard required for student handling, coaching and high speed flying.

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